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27
INDIAS RELATIONS WITH USA AND RUSSIA
Notes
fter the Second World War (1945), the United States of America (USA or US in short) emerged as one of the two super powers, the other being the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR/ Soviet Union). These countries were militarily and economically so strong as compared to other states that they could project their power to every nook and corner of the world. When India attained independence in 1947, it wanted to have good relations with both the countries. It was widely believed that a natural tie would exist between India and the US since India seemed destined to emerge as the worlds largest and Asias first, fully democratic state. And the US was considered the most powerful and celebrated democracy of the world. So far as the relationship between India and the USSR was concerned, a number of commonalties were easily noticed. But the directions of Indias relationships with these two countries took different courses.
Objectives
After studying this lesson, you will able to recognize US support for Indias struggle for independence ; identify problems in Indo-US relations during the Cold War period ; analyse Indo-US relations in the light of contemporary issues ; explain the strong ties between India and the erstwhile Soviet Union in political and economic fields ; identify the areas of cooperation between India and Russia
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believed that Britain should promise self-government to India after the War, in exchange for Indias participation in the struggle against Hitler. The Atlantic Charter, spelt out by the US and Britain, had offered hope of a new dawn to the suppressed people of the world once the War had been successfully concluded. America got a lot of credit in Indian eyes for this. However, Britain subsequently declared that the Charter applied solely to fellow Europeans under Hitlers Nazi occupation.
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pouring in; and Indian skilled professionals in communication and information technology projected India to US in a positive light. President Clinton paid a hugely successful visit to India in 2000. On political front terrorism, non-prolification have been major issues. One of the turning points of Indo-US relations in recent years was the American role in the Kargil crisis in 1999. India viewed President Bill J Clintons role during the 1999 Kargil crisis in persuading Pakistan to withdraw its troops from the Indian side of the Line of Control (LOC) in Kashmir as an important milestone. India tried to impress the importance of fighting the menace of terrorism, by highlighting Pakistans role in Jammu and Kashmir. But the United States did not show much interest in acting against terrorism till the US cities (New York and Washington) were struck in a big way on 11th September 2001. India offered full cooperation to the US in counter terrorism compaign. However our plea to US that Pakistans support to Taliban in Afghanistan, and Jehadists in Kashmir made it the epicentre of international terrorism fell on deaf ears. The US needed Pakistan more than India to contact Al-Qaeda terrorists. So US distinguished good terrorists and bad terrorists. They extended sympathy when terrorists attacted Kashmir Assembly and Indias Parliament in October and December 2001 respectively. Anxious to enlist allies in the war against terrorism, USA reverted to Cold War partnership with Pakistan. Once highly critical of the military regime in Pakistan run by General Pervez Musharraf, Washington now welcomed Musharraf as a full-fledged partner in the international coalition against terrorism. The Bush administration lifted the sanctions against Pakistan, pledged to provide generous assistance and gave the Musharraf government a legitimacy it had never before enjoyed. India legitimately feared that Washington would tilt toward Islamabad once more. USA was alarmed that events might go out of control. To show New Delhi that it took seriously Indias accusations about Pakistans collusion in these attacks, the administration of President George Bush placed the two Pakistan-based groups, India thought responsible for the attacks on the US list of terrorist organizations. While not publicly accepting Indias claim that the Pakistani government itself was involved in terrorist activities, Washingtons words and actions clearly implied that Islamabad could and must do more to crack down on terrorism. US besides countries like Canada, helped India established nuclear power stations in 1963. But the cooperation came under a cloud in 1970s, because of Indias peaceful nuclear explosion at Pokhran in 1974 and Indias refusal to sign nuclear non-prolification treaty. In 1978, the US Congress passed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act in 1978. This law stipulated that uranium could be exported to those countries which allow all their nuclear plants to be inspected and safeguarded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It must not be forgotten that non-proliferation has been a steadfast goal of the US. And major differences between the two countries over nuclear issues persisted. The US hoped that India would sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) of 1996, but India did not. When it detonated five nuclear bombs in May 1998 again at Pokhran and declared itself a nuclear weapons state, the US imposed military and economic sanctions. Bilateral relations seemed to have reached a new low, but India stood its ground. For two years, a number of discussions between Jaswant Singh, then Foreign Minister of India and Strobe Talbott, the US deputy secretary of state were held. Not since the early 1960s had the two countries engaged each other in such a serious and sustained fashion. These discussions transformed the bilateral relationship to a large extent. In 1999 US Congress lifted some of the sanctions against India. This was the first among many such subsequent instances
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Fill in the blanks : The American Congress passed _____________ to allow sale of wheat to India. (PL 480) ( PL 408) The development assistance from US to India reached a peak in ________. (1962) (1965))
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The terms of Soviet aid were favourable to India: when the western countries were charging 6 per cent as rate of interest, the Soviet Union charged only 2.5 per cent. In December 1953, India and the Soviet Union signed a longterm trade agreement. An attractive feature of this agreement was the fact that payment for Indian imports could be made in rupees and not in hard currency like dollar. Trade with the Western countries, by contrast, was in hard currency. For this purpose, accounts of the Soviet Union were opened and maintained in several Indian banks. Military supplies to India emerged as a prominent symbol of Indo-Soviet friendship. In 1962, just before the India-China war, the MiG (the fighter aircraft) deal was signed despite Chinese protest. The USSR replaced the British as the biggest supplier of fighter aircraft. The Soviet Union hosted a meeting of leaders of India and Pakistan in Tashkant in January 1966 after the 1965 war. In August 1971, the Soviet and the Indian leaders signed the historic Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation, the first of its kind that India had signed. The Treaty provided for immediate mutual consultations in case either country was attacked from outside. This clearly signalled Moscows commitment to stand by India on the Bangladesh question. India, in a way, reciprocated with support to the Soviet Union after it invaded Afghanistan in December 1979. India was restrained in its public statements. For India, the Afghanistan issue had been somewhat overshadowed by the virtual military alliance between Pakistan and the US. With the coming to power of Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985, the Soviet foreign relations went through a sea change. The emphasis shifted to the need for mutually beneficial relations with the US and the West. His efforts to build a Common European Home undermined the importance of the developing world like India. This along with the Soviet/ Russian rapprochement with China led to a temporary downturn in Indo-Soviet relations.
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looking up. Energy Cooperation is one of them. India is emerging as a large consumer of energy. Russias oil and gas reserves and its expertise in thermal, hydropower and nuclear energy sector will be crucial in ensuring Indias energy security in future. A number of thermal and hydropower projects have already been built with Soviet/ Russian collaboration. Indias ambitious goals in the field of nuclear energy need Russian help since it is the only important nuclear power which is ready to co-operate with India in the atomic energy sector.
Notes
Terminal Exercises
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Write a note on the Indo-US political relations during the Cold War. Describe the Indo-US relations with regard to the nuclear issues. Analyse the Indo-US relations with regard to terrorism. Write a note on Indo-US economic relations. Highlight the major achievements of Indo-USSR relations during the Cold War. Analyse the Indo-Russian relations in the post-Cold War phase.
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27.2
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) True True True True True
27.3
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Bhilai 1955 1966 1971 Putin
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